Sea Shepherd fights slaughter of pilot whales in Faroe Islands

In a small group of subarctic islands known as the Faroe Islands, situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, the butchering of pilot whales is a yearly occurrence. The Faroese call their particular type of whaling 'the grind'.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has recently sent their vessels off to the Faroe Islands to help rescue the pilot whales, but they are now reporting that 60 of these magnificent creatures have already been killed so far this year. By arriving on mass at the shores of the Faroe Islands the anti-whalers hope to bring an end to the killing.

It would seem that some of the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands see the whale killing as a god given right, and the Sea Shepherd reports: ''They call their killing a gift from god''. The Faroe Islands are in the unusual position of being part of the European Union, as they are an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but they have managed to gain an exemption from the Berne Convention to slaughter the pilot whales.

Few civilized nations today seem to have the stomach for whale hunting, and the recent success of the Sea Shepherd in helping to bring the Japanese Antarctic whale hunting season to an abrupt end is still fresh in the minds of people around the world. Now the anti-whalers have had to turn their attention to the subarctic oceans to help save these whales from the barbaric actions of humans.

The Sea Shepherd has previously been involved in helping the pilot whales in the yearly slaughter in the Faroe Islands. They are particularly concerned now about the barbaric way that the whale hunting is carried out on these islands, including ''thugs who slash, stab and club'' these magnificent animals.

They are now working together with the Bridgette Bardot Foundation, which is a European-based charity focused on the welfare and protection of animals, to try to abolish the exemption that the Faroe Islands have in place which means they do not need to comply with European whaling laws.

The Sea Shepherd is planning on creating some controversy over the issue in Denmark where many people are unaware of the whale slaying that is happening on Danish territory. They are also hoping to bring the attention of the world to the slaughter of whales on these tiny islands in the subarctic.

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